By the lake
by flyin'rabbit
Summary: Everybody knows what happened after the Marauders took their DADA OWL. Would this have been any different if Remus had never been bitten? AU, obviously.


**A/N**: As the summary says: one of the many possible scenarios of what could have happened after the Marauders' DADA exam if Remus had never been bitten. Hopefully you'll enjoy it :)

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the world of Harry Potter. The scene this story is based on is in OotP, chapter 'Snape's worst memory'.

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"How did it go?"

That was the question everyone asked their friends as they caught up with each other and filed out of the Great Hall, right after the Defence against the Dark Arts OWL that had just taken place.

"It was alright."

"Alright? Oh come on, Remus, it was easy! Easy, I'm telling you!"

"Well, I wouldn't want to call it easy…"

"_We_ would."

Four boys walked out of the Great Hall together, discussing the exam like the rest of their year, but seeming more confident about themselves than most fifth years.

"We're virtually free now!"

"Free? We've still got Transfiguration, James."

"That's going to be even easier than Defence, I'm sure."

As they walked towards their usual spot by the lake (it was a beautiful day, and most students went outside, whether to take a short break after the exam, to study there, or to relax completely), their attention was caught by the sight of a lone boy walking a short distance away from them. James and Sirius grinned at each other and started to whisper excitedly.

Sitting down under the tree, the two continued silently plotting whatever cruel fate they had in mind for Snape, the boy they just saw. Remus took out his Transfiguration book to study, and Peter just sat down, looking around at his friends and the other students who had gathered by the lake.

" – I say we change the colour of his robes. Pink, maybe?"

"We've done that countless times, James – "

"But it's so funny!"

"Well, there's no denying that."

"So what did you think about all those questions?" Peter asked, obviously already tired from looking at other people.

"Piece of cake," James answered. "I was done half an hour before the end."

"Half an hour?" Sirius asked, laughing. "I was done forty minutes before the end!"

"I was done half a minute before the end," Peter said quietly. "Some of the questions were quite hard, I think. I mean, five signs to recognise a werewolf? Did we even treat those in class?"

"We did," Remus answered almost immediately. "Start of the year, and two weeks ago, they were mentioned again."

"What he said," James agreed, and all of them continued what they were doing earlier.

"How's Transfiguration going, Remus?" Peter asked his reading friend. "Do you think it'll be manageable?"

"We'll just have to wait and see, right?" Remus answered, sending Peter a quick glance. "But this is pretty difficult, I think."

"What is it?" Sirius asked. "Human to animal transfiguration again?"

"That's the toughest part," James said knowingly. "I don't think many people can actually fully manage that."

"If you three think it's hard already, how am _I_ supposed to pass the exam?" Peter cried out. "I don't understand human to animal transfiguration at all!"

"Well," Remus said matter-of-factly, "they can't exactly give us an exam that's only about that small part of Transfiguration, right?"

"We'll be fine," James and Sirius concluded.

"What are you up to?" a voice suddenly came from behind, and the group collectively turned around.

"Oh, hi Lily," Remus greeted her, smiling. James almost automatically brought up a hand to his hair to mess it up, while grinning at the Lily. She, however, did not look impressed.

"How did it go?" she asked Remus, completely ignoring James. "I thought it was pretty hard, but I guess I passed…"

"You _guess_ you passed?" Sirius asked, almost snorting. "Evans, if you didn't pass, most people didn't pass. Except for us, of course."

Lily rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Remus. "It was alright," he told her, like he had told his friends earlier. Lily smiled at him.

"I'm sure you did great, Remus. But, do you think we could talk for a bit? Not now, tomorrow after the exam, perhaps?" She turned slightly pink as she asked this, and Remus seemed a bit taken aback.

"Sure, Lily. That's fine with me." He smiled reassuringly at her, and she smiled back. With one final wave in his direction, she was gone again.

"What does she want?" Sirius asked in general, looking around at his friends.

"I have no idea," James answered, still staring after her. Finally, he looked away. "You don't think she likes Remus, right?"

"Even if she does," Sirius retorted, "it's her choice, isn't it?"

"Remus?"

"I don't know, I'll just have to wait until tomorrow, right?" Remus had turned back to his book now, but his ears had gone visibly pink.

"And in the meantime…"

"No, seriously," James interrupted Sirius. "Why else would she want to talk to Remus?" He looked quite suspicious by now.

"I don't know, James. How am I supposed to know why she wants to talk to me? It could be anything! I mean, you're talking to me too!"

"That's different, Remus. If you would've looked her in the face while she was talking to you, you would've seen that – "

"Just shut up, James. I'm not in the mood for this." Sending James a glare over the top of his book, Remus started reading again.

"Really," James muttered quietly (and angrily) to Sirius. "What _is_ going on with them? Is he hiding something?" He studied Remus for a moment.

"He wouldn't hide something from us, James," Sirius told him, sighing. "And if something's going on, big deal. There are tons of girls who would want to date you."

His friend grimaced for a split second, and then he shrugged. "I suppose you're right. Now, let's prank Snape!" As he said this, he was grinning again, and Peter, who hadn't said anything for a while, jumped up, grinning as well.

"Let's go!"

"Can't you just _not_ prank Snape for a change?" Remus asked his friends, who exchanged quick looks.

"No," they replied in unison, and Remus glared at them again.

"Can't you leave him alone for one day?" he asked, obviously trying to get them to give up on their plans. "Give him some peace for once?"

"No," they replied again, and Sirius added, "Are you trying to get Lily to like you, or what? Everyone knows that she and Snape are best friends – Merlin knows why."

"That's not it!" Remus protested, but his face betrayed him. His friends just sent him amused (in James' case, amused and slightly upset) looks and stalked over to where Snape was sitting, their unsuspecting victim (although, having been their victim since they started school, he could hardly be completely unsuspecting at this point).

"Oh no you won't," Remus muttered to himself and ran after them. "Do you want me to give you detention?" he asked them strictly once he caught up with them.

"We haven't even done anything yet!" Sirius said, pretending to be shocked. "And would you really land us in detention, Remus? Your best friends?"

"It's not right what you're doing," Remus replied, dodging Sirius' question with ease. "Can't you just leave him alone for once and, I don't know, _study_?"

Sirius and James exchanged looks. "Meh," they said together.

"Then leave him alone and don't study," Remus said, growing tired of this argument. It bothered him that his friends could not study and still ace their exams, but if they really didn't want to study, he couldn't force them, right?

"Merlin, Remus," James started, looking around. "Lily really got to you now, didn't she?"

"That's not it!" Remus repeated, now slightly louder than before (and blushing). "I just – think that you should leave Snape alone for a change. I'm sure he'd appreciate it."

"I don't need _your_ help, Lupin," another voice suddenly said, and the four friends turned towards its source. There was Snape, standing with his arms folded against his chest. Remus didn't know how Snape could be stupid enough to meddle with them now, because he was sure that there was no way that James and Sirius would just let him go.

"Nobody asked _you_ anything, Snape," James called out to him. He and Sirius looked at him menacingly. "You should be grateful that Remus is even… helping you." He shot Remus a look that clearly said that the idea of Remus helping Snape disgusted him and to be honest, Remus felt the same way. He didn't mind sticking up for Snape every once in a while, but helping him might be a bit too much.

Snape snorted but didn't reply. The disdainful look he sent Remus, though, said enough. "Alright, that's it," Sirius suddenly said, and with a flash of his wand, Snape was hanging upside down in the air. "What?" he asked innocently when Remus shook his head at him. "I'd been waiting long enough!"

Remus sighed and looked towards the lake, where Lily was sitting. Well, where she had been sitting, for she was now running towards them at an alarming speed. Remus smiled apologetically at her and even though she seemed pretty mad, she still smiled back, if only just a little. That was enough for Remus to know that she wasn't blaming him, which was a huge relief.

She started yelling at James (who had joined Sirius in his fun by now) and Sirius, and then, Snape (yes, _Snape_!) crossed the line. Along with everyone else, Remus gaped at him as he called Lily the M-word.

James, immediately jumping to Lily's defence, shot another jinx Snape's way, only to be yelled at some more by Lily. Then she walked off, towards the castle, and Remus knew that Snape's words had affected her more than she let on. Throwing another disapproving glance towards his friends, he quickly followed Lily.

When he reached her, she was sitting at the steps towards the front doors, looking very distraught. "Lily?" he asked carefully. "Are you okay?" He knew that she wasn't, but if she didn't want to talk to him about it, he would allow her to do so.

"He's never called me that before," Lily said softly. She wasn't crying, she just looked very upset.

"I don't think he meant to say that," Remus said, suddenly wondering since when he was Snape's defender.

"But he did say it," Lily replied, "and he did mean it when he said it." She sighed and swallowed. "I don't think I could ever forgive him for that. I mean," she continued as Remus opened his mouth to speak, "I suppose that I could, theoretically, but he's said and done so much more. Not to me, but to others. He's become a true Slytherin lately." She wasn't saying it outright, but Remus was almost sure that when she said 'true Slytherin', she meant, 'a potential follower of You-Know-Who'. He didn't know what to say to that.

"My friends were right about him," Lily added bitterly, staring at a stone a couple of feet away. "I should've listened earlier." She sighed again. "Anyway, thanks, Remus, and sorry. I should go study, or else I'll probably won't pass Transfiguration tomorrow. I'll see you then, yeah?"

Remus nodded at her, smiling. "Of course, Lily. And don't worry. About anything." Lily bent down and embraced him for a moment. Then she walked up the steps and disappeared inside the castle.

Looking towards the lake, Remus' eyes found his friends. They were still goofing around, sending another hex Snape's way every now and then. A large crowd (even larger than when he'd left) was surrounding them. Knowing that he could do nothing to stop them anyway, Remus decided that he might as well join them, then, even though a little voice in his head told him that it was wrong and that he'd better continue studying. A short break every now and then had never hurt anyone, right?

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**A/N**: So, what do you think? :) I know, not an awful lot has been changed, but I wanted it to remain at least slightly recogniseable. Let me know what you think, please review!


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